All topics

57% of people in poverty are children or working-age adults living in a household where someone is in paid work.

This is according to a March 2018 briefing from the Institute for Fiscal Studies on poverty and low pay in the UK.

The briefing finds:

Low pay is highly related to lack of pay progression. The wages of the low- and high- educated, and of men and women, end up much further apart by age 40 than they were at the start of their careers
Experience and education are both positively associated with higher wages, but the association with experience is much stronger for the high-educated than the low-educated
The fact that women’s wages fall behind their male counterparts over the lifecycle is, in part, related to a remarkable lack of wage progression in part-time work.
Read the full briefing.

Stonewall are recruiting a Programmes Officer for their Education team, in London. Applications close on 26 March 2018.

The post-holder will provide training and support to schools and organisations in the education sector to empower them to tackle homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in schools and colleges. They will also highlight best practice and use this to create guidance and resources.

In July 2015, the Government announced that it would delay reforms of social care funding from April 2016 to April 2020.

In response, the House of Commons Library have published a February 2018 briefing paper outlining the postponement of these reforms.

This paper finds:

The Government cited the expected £6 billion cost of the policy (over five years) at “a time of consolidation” as the reason for the delay, and noted the “genuine concerns raised by stakeholders” about the introduction of the changes
The Government has stated that it will publish a Green Paper on social care for older people by the 2018 parliamentary summer recess (which starts on 25 July), and undertake a parallel programme of work in regard to social care for working age adults
In December 2017, the revised date of April 2020 for the introduction of the cap was dropped and no new date was announced. The Government told the House that this postponement was necessary “to allow for fuller engagement and the development of the approach, and so that reforms to the care system and how it is paid for are considered in the round”.
Read the full report.

Over a third of the entire working population state that they do not earn enough to keep up with the basic cost of living.

This from the February 2018 report (pdf) from the Centre for Labour and Social Studies (CLASS) on the state of the UK labour market.

The report finds:

Amongst those aged 18 to 24 and 25 to 34, 39% and 44% respectively are struggling to make ends meet
Those earning £20,000 to £39,999 are more likely to think the economy is working badly and even among incomes in excess of £40,000, less than a third think the economy is working well
Over 50% of those employed in agriculture, forestry and fishing want more hours than their employer can currently offer.
Read the full report (PDF).

ROTA’s Equality Law Project aims to support frontline organisations to understand and use the Equality Act 2010.

The project has produced an online employment and anti-discrimination legal support tool to support VCS organisations and their service users identify appropriate legal advice, support and representation in their local area.

This free searchable database will not only help BAME and migrant organisations deal with casework, but will enable them to better support BAME and migrant workers.

6 in 10 employers agree that a woman should have to disclose whether she is pregnant during the recruitment process.

This is according to the Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) who have published the results of their survey on maternity discrimination in the workplace, in February 2018.

The aim of the survey was to understand managers’ attitudes around pregnancy and maternity discrimination.

Findings from the survey include:

44% of employers agree that women should work for an organisation for at least a year before deciding to have children
40% of employers claim to have seen at least one pregnant woman in their workplace ‘take advantage’ of their pregnancy
41% employers agreed that pregnancy in the workplace puts ‘an unnecessary cost burden’ on the workplace.
EHRC have also launched a February 2018 campaign to combat these negative perceptions and end discrimination against new parents. Working Forward asks businesses to join the campaign and make the pledge.